We present the results of our power spectral density analysis for the BL Lac object OJ 287, utilizing the Fermi-LAT survey at high-energy γ-rays, Swift-XRT in X-rays, several ground-based telescopes and the Kepler satellite in the optical, and radio telescopes at GHz frequencies. The light curves are modeled in terms of continuous-time autoregressive moving average (CARMA) processes. Owing to the inclusion of the Kepler data, we were able to construct for the first time the optical variability power spectrum of a blazar without any gaps across ∼6 dex in temporal frequencies. Our analysis reveals that the radio power spectra are of a colored-noise type on timescales ranging from tens of years down to months, with no evidence for breaks or other spectral features. The overall optical power spectrum is also consistent with a colored noise on the variability timescales ranging from 117 years down to hours, with no hints of any quasi-periodic oscillations. The X-ray power spectrum resembles the radio and optical power spectra on the analogous timescales ranging from tens of years down to months. Finally, the γ-ray power spectrum is noticeably different from the radio, optical, and X-ray power spectra of the source: we have detected a characteristic relaxation timescale in the Fermi-LAT data, corresponding to ∼150 days, such that on timescales longer than this, the power spectrum is consistent with uncorrelated (white) noise, while on shorter variability timescales there is correlated (colored) noise.

We report on a recent multiband optical photometric and polarimetric observational campaign of the blazar OJ 287 that was carried out during 2016 September–2017 December. We employed nine telescopes in Bulgaria, China, Georgia, Japan, Serbia, Spain, and the United States. We collected over 1800 photometric image frames in BVRI bands and over 100 polarimetric measurements over ∼175 nights. In 11 nights with many quasi-simultaneous multiband (V, R, I) observations, we did not detect any genuine intraday variability in flux or color. On longer timescales, multiple flaring events were seen. Large changes in color with respect to time and in a color–magnitude diagram were seen, and while only a weak systematic variability trend was noticed in color with respect to time, the color–magnitude diagram shows a bluer-when-brighter trend. Large changes in the degree of polarization and substantial swings in the polarization angle were detected. The fractional Stokes parameters of the polarization showed a systematic trend with time in the beginning of these observations, followed by chaotic changes and then an apparently systematic variation at the end. These polarization changes coincide with the detection and duration of the source at very high energies as seen by VERITAS. The spectral index shows a systematic variation with time and V-band magnitude. We briefly discuss possible physical mechanisms that could explain the observed flux, color, polarization, and spectral variability.

We present the results of our power spectral analysis for the BL Lac object PKS 0735+178, utilizing the Fermi-LAT survey at high-energy γ-rays, several ground-based optical telescopes, and single-dish radio telescopes operating at GHz frequencies. The novelty of our approach is that, by combining long-term and densely sampled intra-night light curves in the optical regime, we were able to construct for the first time the optical power spectrum of the blazar for a time domain extending from 23 years down to minutes. Our analysis reveals that: (1) the optical variability is consistent with a pure red noise, for which the power spectral density can be well approximated by a single power law throughout the entire time domain probed; (2) the slope of power spectral density at high-energy γ-rays (∼1) is significantly flatter than that found at radio and optical frequencies (∼2) within the corresponding time variability range; (3) for the derived power spectra, we did not detect any low-frequency flattening, nor do we see any evidence for cutoffs at the highest frequencies down to the noise floor levels due to measurement uncertainties. We interpret our findings in terms of a model where the blazar variability is generated by the underlying single stochastic process (at radio and optical frequencies), or a linear superposition of such processes (in the γ-ray regime). Along with the detailed PSD analysis, we also present the results of our extended (1998–2015) intra-night optical monitoring program and newly acquired optical photo-polarimetric data for the source.

The incidence of intranight optical variability (INOV) is known to differ significantly among different classes of powerful active galactic nuclei (AGN). A number of statistical methods have been employed in the literature for testing the presence of INOV in the light curves, sometimes leading to discordant results. In this paper, we compare the INOV characteristics of six prominent classes of AGN, as evaluated using three commonly used statistical tests, namely the χ²-test, the modified C-test and the F-test, which has recently begun to gain popularity. The AGN classes considered are: radio-quiet quasars, radio-intermediate quasars, lobe-dominated quasars, low optical polarization core-dominated quasars, high optical polarization core-dominated quasars and TeV blazars. Our analysis is based on a large body of AGN monitoring data, involving 262 sessions of intranight monitoring of a total 77 AGN, using 1–2 m class optical telescopes located in India. In order to compare the usefulness of the statistical tests, we have also subjected them to a ‘sanity check’ by comparing the number of false positives yielded by each test with the corresponding statistical prediction. The present analysis is intended to serve as a benchmark for future INOV studies of AGN of different classes.

We present the catalog of Radio sources associated with Optical Galaxies and having Unresolved or Extended morphologies I (ROGUE I), consisting of 32,616 spectroscopically selected galaxies. It is the largest handmade catalog of this kind, obtained by cross-matching galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 and radio sources from both the First Images of Radio Sky at Twenty Centimetre (FIRST) survey and the NRAO Very Large Array Sky Survey, without imposing a limit on the radio flux densities. The catalog provides a visual classification of radio and optical morphologies of galaxies presenting a FIRST core within 3″ of the optical position. The radio morphological classification is performed by examining the radio–optical overlays of linear sizes equal to 1 Mpc at the source distance, while the 120″ image snapshots from the SDSS database are used for optical classification. The results of our search are as follows: (i) single-component unresolved and elongated radio sources constitute the major group in the ROGUE I catalog (∼90%), and ∼8% exhibit extended morphologies; (ii) samples of 269, 730, and 115 Fanaroff–Riley (FR) type I, II, and hybrid galaxies, respectively, are presented; (iii) we report 55 newly discovered giant/possible giant, 16 double–double, 9 X-shaped, and 25 Z-shaped radio sources; (iv) on the optical front, most galaxies have elliptical morphologies (∼62%) while spirals form the second major category (∼17%) followed by distorted (∼12%) and lenticular (∼7%) morphologies; and (v) division between the FR I and the FR II sources in the radio–optical luminosity plane is blurred, in tune with recent studies.

We present the results of variability power spectral density (PSD) analysis using multiwavelength radio to GeV γ-ray light curves covering timescales of decades/years to days/minutes for the blazars 3C 279 and PKS 1510−089. The PSDs are modeled as single power laws, and the best-fit spectral shape is derived using the “power spectral response” method. With more than 10 yr of data obtained with weekly/daily sampling intervals, most of the PSDs cover ∼2–4 decades in temporal frequency; moreover, in the optical band, the PSDs cover ∼6 decades for 3C 279 due to the availability of intranight light curves. Our main results are the following: (1) on timescales ranging from decades to days, the synchrotron and the inverse-Compton spectral components, in general, exhibit red-noise (slope ∼2) and flicker-noise (slope ∼1) type variability, respectively; (2) the slopes of γ-ray variability PSDs obtained using a 3 hr integration bin and 3 weeks total duration exhibit a range between ∼1.4 and ∼2.0 (mean slope = 1.60 ± 0.70), consistent within errors with the slope on longer timescales; (3) comparisons of fractional variability indicate more power on timescales ≤100 days at γ-ray frequencies compared to longer wavelengths, in general (except between the γ-ray and optical wavelengths for PKS 1510−089); (4) the normalization of intranight optical PSDs for 3C 279 appears to be a simple extrapolation from longer timescales, indicating a continuous (single) process driving the variability at optical wavelengths; and (5) the emission at optical/infrared wavelengths may involve a combination of disk and jet processes for PKS 1510−089.